Southern African Development Community

SADC, established on 1 April 1980 was the precursor of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The SADCC was transformed into the SADC on 17 August 1992 in Windhoek, Namibia where the SADC Treaty was adopted, redefining the basis of cooperation among the Member States from a loose association into a legally binding arrangement.
The main objectives of SADC are to achieve development, peace, and security, and economic growth, to alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the peoples of Southern Africa, and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration, built on democratic principles and equitable and sustainable development.
SADC addresses the Agriculture and Food Security issues within the Southern African region by focusing on five key areas:

Food Security
Crop Production
Livestock Production
Agricultural Information

The Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) and the Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ (SIPO) remain the guiding frameworks for SADC Regional Integration, providing SADC Member States, SADC Secretariat and other SADC Institutions with consistent and comprehensive programs of long-term economic and social policies.
In value terms, it ranks first among African Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), representing 41 percent of total African exports in 2017.
SADC has emerged as an important partner for India. During the last ten years, India’s total trade with SADC countries nearly doubled from$ 13.7 billion in 2008 to $ 25.5 billion in 2017, with SADC’s share in India’s total trade with Africa has increased from 32.8 percent in 2008 to 42.4 percent in 2017.
The increasing importance of India as SADC’s trading partner can also be assessed from the fact that India’s share in SADC’s global trade has more than doubled from 2.9 percent recorded in 2008 to 6.4 percent in 2017.